It's a national trend, but one happening more rapidly here.
The number of farms fell just over 4 percent across the nation over the latest
five-year period, but dropped 11 percent in Alabama.

That's according to the preliminary report on the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's farm census. The full agricultural census, conducted every
five years, will be released in May.

Alabama has seen both consolidations and loss of farm land over
the last few years.

Yet Alabama is not witnessing a rush of new multi-national corporations, said Jeff Helms with the Alabama Farmers Federation.

"We don't see anything like that happening," said Helms. "In
Alabama, the vast majority of farms are still family-owned."

But the numbers of those small family farms are shrinking.

Alabama was farming 9 million acres in 2007. That fell to
8.9 million acres by 2012.

Meanwhile, the preliminary report shows Alabama went from 48,753
farms in 2007 down to 43,228 farms in 2012.

The bulk of the losses were among
smaller farms, in the 10- to 49-acre range.

The USDA defines a farm as any place producing more than
$1,000 a year in agricultural products.

Helms said many consolidations tend to involve families
combining smaller parcels, or aging farmers and their family members selling off
land to neighboring operations.

Farming all across the country continues to be an older man's
game. In Alabama, 87 percent of farms are operated by men. If anything, they
are growing older with fewer young replacements. In Alabama, the average age of
a farmer is 59.3. That's up from 57.6 years old in 2007.

About 13 percent of the operators of Alabama farms are now over
75.

"It is true that the number of people living on farms has
declined," said Helms. But he said agriculture is still big business in Alabama,
accounting for $5 billion in cash receipts and up to $70 billion in total
economic impact.

As a result of consolidations, the average farm size is growing. Alabama
farms average 206 acres now, compared to 185 acres just five years earlier.